Restore Section 8 Funds

June 21, 2004

Talk about a bad landlord. He comes to the door in late April and hits you with a rent increase, retroactive to the first of the year. On the way out, he tells you the rent is going up again next year.

The landlord in this case is Uncle Sam.

On April 22, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a new funding formula for the Section 8 housing voucher program that helps more than 2 million low-income Americans pay for shelter.

In the past, HUD provided local agencies with funds to cover the actual cost of housing a certain number of residents. Under the new plan, HUD will pay the agencies at last August's levels, plus an adjustment for inflation, retroactive to January. The formula was changed to save money.

Participants pay about 30 percent of their income for rent, with Section 8 picking up the rest. The cutbacks could force families to pay more rent or reduce the number of people in the program.

In many parts of the country, including Connecticut, rent increases have outpaced the inflation factor. Already, some California cities have canceled current contracts to lower subsidies. In Massachusetts, only last-minute intervention by Gov. Mitt Romney kept 650 residents from being dropped from the program. By one estimate, New York City will lose 4,600 vouchers.

In Hartford, 8,200 households participate in Section 8 and another 2,000-plus are on the waiting list. It's not yet clear whether the revised formula will affect Hartford, in part because HUD has been slow to explain the new program and promulgate rules. But it's something the city needs to watch closely.

The Bush administration also proposes to further cut voucher funding in 2005 and convert the program to a block grant. Both changes are, as one area housing administrator put it, ``too much, too fast and too drastic.'' We agree.

Though Section 8 has its critics, and programs in a few cities have been tainted by corruption, it serves a real and growing need. The wages of the working poor have not kept up with the rising cost of real estate. Lack of affordable housing has become critical in parts of Connecticut.

The Section 8 cutbacks have triggered complaints from around the country. As the protests have poured in, HUD has begun to rethink the changes. That suggests the cutbacks, which HUD blames on Congress, were too hasty and ill-considered.

The administration ought to restore full funding to Section 8 and instead prepare a comprehensive national housing policy. To cut housing assistance for the working poor, disabled and seniors at a time of tax cuts for the wealthy is unfair.